Review: Robin Hood & The Babes in the Wood at Clwyd Theatr Cymru

Dec 16 2009 Chester Chronicle

ROBIN HOOD AND THE BABES IN THE WOOD/Anthony Hopkins Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, until January 23

REVIEW/by Peggy Woodcock

CHRISTMAS wouldn't be the same without it, for me and hundreds of others. Three festive cheers for Clwyd Theatr Cymru's rock'n'roll panto!

I love this show. We all love this show. I don't know how they do it, but year on year they produce the goods. The formula is the same, tried and tested. We wouldn't have it any other way. The jokes are as bad. The silliness as predictable. Good job too.

And the music hits your ears in a torrent that has your toes tapping and your hands clapping. Just as it did last year. Too right.

This year it's a two-in-one treat with Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, and nightly a high octane talented cast are rolling them in the aisles with a blast of a show that would put a smile on any face.

The usual suspects are in there, Robin Hood, his mate Will and girlfriend Maid Marion, and the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham. This being panto there are new ones, the Sheriff's henchmen Portcullis and the gormless Numbskull, and pop princesses Britney and a Whitney, babes with total glam.

Not babes in the wood but somehow under the wicked wing of the sheriff. He's got Maid Marion too, determined to marry her. But soon she will come of age and she loves Robin. Meanwhile he can't resist having a go at the Sheriff's archery contest...

Oh, what the heck. It's a marvellously woven farradiddle that's just a great excuse for fun. And that allows in all the best bits of panto, from shouts of 'he's behind you' to a mad chase through the audience, from cheeky puppetry to knock-out punches.

And for breaking into song at each and every opportunity. The cast don't hold back. They give many a great rock classic the wellie. So they belt out the best of Meatloaf, Springstein, Clapton, Jackson et al. I thought the foot stamping finale would fetch the roof off.

The ensemble cast were, as ever, superb. These people are talented musicians as well as actors and singers and their versatility never ceases to amaze me. They leap from acting tomfoolery front of stage, to belting out a song to playing keyboard, saxaphone, guitar, drums, in an instant.

My favourite was James Haggies's Numbskull, bit simple, in love with Marion, aah.... In striped dungarees, with orange hair, he was the clown of the show, who got knocked about something rotten. Great comic timing, and could he belt out a song!

Justin Brett was magnificently dressed and boobed as that panto staple, the dame, here Nanny Nellie Nightnurse, and he did a great job, all fun, no smut. Michael O'Connor was splendidly evil as the Sheriff, Dan de Cruz dashing as Robin Hood, and Philippa Buxton feisty as Maid Marion.

Ally Holmes and Sioned Saunders were great value as the precocious babes, also Tom Connor, as a lovable Much the Miller's son and Nick Lashbrook a truly daft Portcullis.

With vivid set, gorgeous costumes, writer and director Peter Rowe and his team have done it again. Applause all round.

Visit www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk or ring 0845 330 3565 for booking information.